How To Write A Short Story And Have Fun

Post on September 28, 2014 by Tyler Scott Hess

Why Writing Short Stories Needs To Be Fun

Writing is hard work.

Let’s do the math. If a writer can put out a fairly quick pace of 1,000 words per hour and they want to write an 80,000 word novel, that’s 80 hours of work. That’s two full weeks at a regular old job. But we all know that it doesn’t work just like that.

Authors spend day and night obsessing over their writing. We wake up in the middle of the night with an idea. We come up with another in the shower. We’re coming up with our next scene while picking out fruit at the grocery store.

And the work doesn’t start or stop with those 80,000 words. There’s research, outlining, and all kinds of editing to consider before we even get to publishing and marketing our manuscripts.

It’s exhausting. But it’s our calling and our passion. So we slave over our work. And sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s as much fun as we imagined when we wrote the first sentence in our first book.

I propose that there are times when writers need to be reminded of the joy of writing, even in the midst of creating the next big thing in their genre.

Short stories serve the purpose of bringing the fun back into writing for authors who tend to lose sight of why they started writing in the first place.

You Can Learn How To Have Fun As A Writer

I’ve been through the ringer more than a few times over the course of writing my novels.

I’ve had days where I wanted to give it up altogether.

I’ve had days where I wanted to start fresh even though I was in the middle of a big project.

But mostly I’ve had days where I just wanted to try something new, different, easy, and fun.

That’s where the short story comes into play. And it isn’t a difficult thing to do. All you need is a little bit of time and the desire to refresh yourself while continuing to hone your craft.

It’s Time To Explore Your Wild Side

Every writer has plenty of ideas that they’d love to work on. Creatives love to create. You’re no different.

But sometimes projects take a long time. Some people can write a book every month. They’re crazy, but they can do it.

Most serious authors only write a few full length novels per year. And many of us write them as a series.

That limits our ability to put all of our ideas onto the page.

But you don’t have to be limited. You can be crazy. You can have fun. You can learn how to write short stories and get all those wild ideas out of your head. And you might attract new readers along the way. Let’s see how.

How To Write Short Stories And Have Fun In 4 Easy Steps

Let me set the record straight: there are many ways to write short stories. Some of them brilliant. Some of them are simple. Many of them are just as exhausting as writing a novel. I want to show you how I write short stories in a way that keeps them fun.

1. Come Up With An Idea

Every writer has their own way of coming up with ideas for their work. Some are naturally curious about certain topics. Others enjoy having writing prompts. I like to do things my own way.

When I write a short story, the first thing I do is search Flickr’s Creative Commons photographs for an interesting picture. I’ll type in a work like “scary” or “brave” or “exciting” until I find a picture that stands out.

Then I come up with a title that I think would be interesting to read. I make a cover out of that photograph with Pixlr or PicMonkey and use that as my starting line for my short story.

Is this how most people do it? Of course not. But it’s fun. And that’s what short stories are all about for me. I want to have fun exploring different possibilities with my writing. That’s how I improve.

Write Freestyle

Now that you have your idea for a short story in mind, even if you didn’t do it my way, it’s time to do what you’re best at doing: writing.

Writing short stories gives you the chance to shine without the drawbacks that some people fear with writing novels.

You don’t have to worry that it might stink. You don’t have to worry that it won’t sell well in stores. You don’t have to worry that there might not be an audience for it.

All you have to do is have fun exploring the world of writing. Try something different. Mix it up. You never know what you might learn about writing and yourself along the way.

Everyone has their own definition of what a “short story” should be. Some love writing 150 word flash fiction. Others prefer something a bit longer and might work their way up to 5,000 words. I like to keep it somewhere in between, usually around 1,000 words. It only takes me an hour or two and I learn something new every time I write one.

Look It Over

Just because it’s a short story, doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve to be done well.

Some people enjoy writing just for themselves, but most of us like to have our work appreciated by others.

The best way to have your work appreciated by others is to make sure it’s interesting and edited for errors and content.

Make sure that whatever you wrote is worthy of an audience.

Publish

The last step is hitting that little button that shows the world what you’ve done.

I publish all of my short stories on my website.

Some of them make it as “bonus” features in my ebooks.

They are a wonderful way of showing readers what you are capable of doing as a writer.

Now you can use your short stories to make something new, have fun, share with the world, and promote your brand as an author.

Now Is The Time To Expand Your Writing Skills

I love helping other writes enjoy the journey they’re on as they explore our world by creating their own worlds.

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